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Highland Perthshire Drovers Trail

The Highland Perthshire Drovers Trail is a circular multi-day bikepacking route which offers an enjoyable off-road journey steeped in history through a wide variety of Scottish landscapes and small market towns and villages. Starting and finishing in Pitlochry it features the remote and scenic glens in the Cairngorms National Park, the Tay, Scotland’s longest river, Scotland’s smallest and oldest distillery, the last surviving oak tree from the wood that inspired Shakespeare’s Macbeth, waterfalls that heartened Robert Burns, Wade’s Military Roads, drove roads and some of the best gravel paths that the Highlands have to offer. The route should be ridden anti-clockwise, starting and finishing in Pitlochry, but can be started anywhere along the route.

Perthshire Gravel Trails Logo
Developed as part of the perthshiregravel.com project with Highland Perthshire Cycling

Download the GPX for free here (zip file)

Distance: 326 km
Ascent: 6,200 m
Terrain: A mixture of roads, small roads, forest tracks, singletrack, hike-a-bike section, walking paths, cycling paths, landrover tracks
Difficulty: Expert, includes hike-a-bike sections, remote terrain, steps to carry the bike up, (at time) busy road sections

For more detailed descriptions and the GPX files for the various stages of the route you can find out more on perthshiregravel.com or by clicking on the links below:

The Highland Perthshire Drovers Trail in the press

26 Mar 2021Bike RadarSeven must-ride routes in Scotland with epic views

14 Dec 2020UK HillwalkingBikepacking the John Muir Way and Following Drovers in Perthshire

11 Dec 2020Heartland FMBiking brings boom to Highland Perthshire

3 Dec 2020Wild ScotlandFinal report rounds up the highly-successful first phase of the Highland Perthshire Gravel Trails Project

20 October 2020 – Red Bull – 10 of the best bikepacking routes in Scotland

20 October 2020 – Red Bull – 10 of the best gravel routes in Scotland

23 Sep 2020 – bikepacking.com – The Complete Guide to Bikepacking Scotland

21 Sep 2020 – Advntr.cc – Short film: Drovers, perthshiregravel.com

15 Sep 2020 – Daily Record – Perth and Kinross residents asked to share their tales of new bike trails

1 Sep 2020 – Velo Journal – Viehtreiber auf zwei Rädern

31 Aug 2020 – inews – Cycling holidays: How to organise a bikepacking adventure, from novices to pros

12 Aug 2020 – The Guardian – How to take a cycling holiday this year despite the pandemic

1 Aug 2020 – Scotland Correspondent – Trails of History and Adventure

30 Jul 2020 – Thüringer Allgemeine (Germany) – 331 Kilometer durch Highland Perthshire in Schottland

24 Jul 2020 – Daily Record – Historic 331km-long bikepacking route through Perthshire is the star of new video

23 Jul 2020 – ukgravelbike.club – Drovers – New film from Bikepacking Scotland tells the story of ancient drove roads

22 Jul 2020 – Radavist – Drovers

22 Jul 2020 – Chainslapmag – Drovers

22 Jul 2020 – Yellow Jersey The Draft – Staycation: 5 cycling routes around Scotland

21 Jul 2020 – Ciclismo Máster – Drovers. Gravel en estado puro por Escocia.

20 Jul 2020 – Adventure Journal – Scottish Charm Meets Scottish Gravel on These Ancient Cattle Roads

17 Jul 2020 – Capovelo – Bikepacking Scotland’s Drovers Trail

17 Jul 2020 – Bikerumor – Friday Roundup: Bikepacking Drovers & Bears Ears, Ride Together, Win Bombtrack, POC, Rapha & more!

17 Jul 2020 – Scottish Field – Film follows the drovers’ trail through Perthshire

17 Jul 2020 – The Overland/Morvelo – Introducing The Drovers Trail. A new 331-km-long gravel bikepacking route in Scotland.

16 Jul 2020 – road.cc – Terrific video highlights gravel cycling routes on Scotland’s ancient drovers’ trails

16 Jul 2020 – Rough Ride Guide – Perthshire Gravel Website

16 Jul 2020 – Apidura Journal – Drovers

16 July 2020 – Singletrack/grit.cx – Eleven Free Gravel GPX Routes Plotted In Perthshire

16 Jul 2020 – The Courier – New film tells the story of ancient drove roads and launches guide to off-road cycling in Highland Perthshire

15 Jul 2020 – Kinesis UK Blog – Drovers, gravel and loads of smiles

25 Nov 2019 – The National – New gravel bikepacking trails set to boost tourism in Highlands

21 Nov 2019 – off-road.cc – Highland Perthshire Cycling secures investment for the Gravel Trails Project

14 Nov 2019 – The Courier – Project to map Perthshire moorland in bid to boost cycle tourism gets underway

14 Nov 2019 – Cycling Industry News – Perthshire seeks to become UK gravel bike capital with fresh investment